


Highschool Crush

by cinip



Category: Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Assumptions, Coming Out, Communication Failure, Crushes, F/F, High School, Love Confessions, Love Letters, Miscommunication, Slow Burn, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-03-29 23:26:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 12,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13937691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinip/pseuds/cinip
Summary: Chika was straightforward, dedicated, and tended to care a lot about her passions. That's what Riko liked about her. But sometimes she was so dense that she couldn't even pick up on the hints lying right in front of her!Riko was graceful, distinguished, and thoughtful when considering other people's feelings. Chika could attest to all of that. But there was something about her that made it too intimidating to straight up confess her feelings.Yoshiko only wanted to help, especially since Riko was helping her with a crush of her own. But sometimes the best helping is minding your own business....that is, if she were to actually follow that advice.You is Chika's best friend in the entire world, of course she cares about her deeply and wants to see her succeed in life. She's there to support Chika wherever her life takes her.





	1. What Is This Feeling?

If anyone were to ask Chika who the most beautiful girl in the world was, she wouldn’t have to bat an eyelash before saying Riko Sakurauchi. With her long crimson hair that fell nicely against her back, to her citrine eyes, Riko was physically a pretty girl. But if they asked Chika, she would go into how her smile was soft but contagious, or how her voice sounded like that of an angel. She could go on and on for hours about Riko’s piano skills and how her fingers flew across the keys, picking up even the most difficult of melodies. But most importantly, Riko was her friend, and one of her fellow idols. 

“Chika-chan!” said You, waving her hand in front of Chika’s face. Chika snapped out of her daydream and straightened up her posture. She blushed at the thought of spacing out in class again. 

“Sorry, I must have stayed up late last night,” lied Chika. The truth was, she had been staring at Riko, who was a few seats in front of her. Next month, they were going to go to Tokyo together for a promotional tour of Aquors, and Chika was already planning out things to talk about with Riko in her head. 

“Staying up working on lyrics I hope,” said You with a wink. She passed Chika her notebook. “I’ve been thinking of some new designs, and I know you didn’t like the sailor ones I did earlier, so I redrew them to be more classy.” Chika looked down at You’s sketches and smiled. Half of the drawings had cute little sailor girl skirts, but the other half had pants with a top coat that flayed outwards a bit around the ends. 

“I was thinking we could maybe mix it up a bit, cute and classy,” said You. 

“I wonder which design Riko would look cuter in,” thought Chika, not realizing she said this out loud. “Probably the suit.”

“So I take it you like the designs?” asked You, beaming with happiness. “I’ll run it by a few of the others to see if we have enough people that want to wear each design. Of course, after they pick which role, we’ll customize the outfits a bit to give everyone their own personal flair-”

“Riko would definitely take the suit,” said Chika, resting her head on her folded hands. 

“You’re really focused on Riko today,” said You with a smirk. “There are 7 more of us too!” Chika gave You an awkward smile. 

“Well, I think you’d look good in the suit, Kanan would take the suit too. Dia, Ruby, Yoshiko, Mari, and Hanamaru would definitely pick the cuter one,” said Chika. 

“Can I add suspenders to the suit?” joked You, scribbling some onto one of her rough drafts. Chika laughed. 

“Of course not,” she said before looking down at the drawing. But as soon as she saw it, she began to imagine, what would Riko look like in those? That actually might look really good. 

“You’re thinking about Riko again,” said You, taking her notebook back. “You always do this thing with your face when you’re thinking about her, your eyes kinda look like you’re staring at nothing in particular.” Chika blushed. 

“I was not!” she said. You gave her a blank look. “Okay fine, I was. I don’t know why I can’t get her out of my mind. Not that I want to…”

“Hm, you know who’s good with this kind of thing? Kanan. I would talk to her after school if you have time,” said You, looking down at her schedule. “Actually, it’s perfect timing because we don’t have practice after school today. I would definitely talk to her if I were you.” Chika nodded, and looked back over at Riko. Ever since they first met on the beach, Chika had a certain fondness for her dear friend. But the closer they got, the closer Chika  _ wanted _ to get to her. It was as if there was something keeping them apart that Chika couldn’t piece together. Perhaps this talk with Kanan would help set her on the right path. 


	2. At Least Two of Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yoshiko finds out that Riko likes Chika, and subsequently Riko finds out who Yoshiko's crush is.

“Whatcha doodling?” asked Yoshiko, popping out of seemingly nowhere. She leaned her head over Riko’s shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of what Riko was drawing. 

“Nothing!” stammered Riko, slamming her notebook shut. But it was too late; Yoshiko snatched the notebook and started flipping through the pages. In the heat of the moment, Riko got up out of her chair and jumped onto Yoshiko, trying to throw her off balance so she could get the notebook back. She fell to the ground, right on top of Yoshiko, but to her luck, Yoshiko had thrown the notebook to the side when she fell. 

“Yes!” said Riko as her fingers brushed the spiral of the notebook. She grabbed the notebook and brought it close to her chest, hugging it as not to let Yoshiko grab it. But the damage was already done: Yoshiko was holding a piece of paper and staring at the drawing with an expression that Riko had never seen before. 

“I can explain!” exclaimed Riko, not sure which drawing Yoshiko held before her. Hopefully it was one of flowers, but based on her expression, it probably wasn’t. Riko felt an overwhelming dread wash over her as she looked through her notebook to see that her flower drawings were still in it. Yoshiko turned the drawing around to reveal a sketch of Chika’s face surrounded by hearts. Riko paled.

“My little demon Riri,” said Yoshiko, looking down at the piece of paper. “I never would have thought that you would have a crush.” 

“That’s it? That’s your reaction?” Riko sighed with relief. This could have gone so much worse than it did. Yoshiko seemed pretty much unphased by the fact that she liked girls. The face she made earlier was probably one of realization and shock, rather than horror. But why was Yoshiko so unaffected?

“Well, I would never have thought you had a crush too!” said Riko. Might as well fight fire with fire. Yoshiko’s eyes widened and she took a step back. Riko smirked a bit. Looks like Yoshiko actually did have a crush. 

“Why, what, how could you have possibly known!” announced Yoshiko as she started pacing. “My ever increasing dark energy must have given it away. Hm, of course, you could never possibly guess whoever it was that I have taken a liking to-”

“Hanamaru?” guessed Riko. Yoshiko blushed.

“You’ve seen through my protective barrier!” said Yoshiko, clutching her chest. “My secret has been exposed!” The two girls stared at each other for a moment. 

“So you like girls too,” said Riko in a soft voice. “I thought I was definitely the only one in our group.” Yoshiko rubbed the back of her neck.

“I had my guesses about some of the rest of our teammates, or perhaps I should call them my “hopes”. I never thought I’d be able to say it outloud so easily like this,” said Yoshiko, standing up straighter. “I like girls.” Riko smiled. She had known for quite some time that she liked girls, but for the longest time she couldn’t bring herself to tell anyone else. She wasn’t quite sure how they would react. There was always the risk of being socially alienated from the rest of her friends, so she tended to hide that aspect about her. She wasn’t ashamed of it, however, she just wanted to make sure she could remain safe. 

“At least we’ll be able to talk about our crushes together,” said Riko, feeling her cheeks blush a bit. “It’s nice to have someone to talk to about similar experiences. I guess we tend to flock together.”

“I knew I made a right choice when I picked you to be one of my little demons,” said Yoshiko, the corner of her mouth turning into a smirk. “So are you going to tell Chika you like her?”

“Of course not,” said Riko, flustered. “I mean, I don’t even know if she likes girls, let alone me in particular.”

“Maybe if you get to know her better you can try to figure that out?” suggested Yoshiko. Riko sighed and sat down. She tapped her right hand fingers on the table to the beat of the piano song she was currently working on. 

“That could work,” said Riko. “But what’s the odds of her liking girls too? There’s already the two of us.” Yoshiko shrugged. 

“It’s worth a try,” she said. 

“What about you and Hanamaru?” 

Yoshiko looked as if Riko had suggested something completely out of the ordinary.

“The heavens above have not yet aligned enough for-”

“You’re not ready to confess your feelings for her,” translated Riko. 

“Yeah, that,” said Yoshiko, relaxing a bit. Riko put her hand on Yoshiko’s shoulder. 

“Well, I’m glad we could talk about this today, but I have to head home to practice piano. I’d like to talk some other time when you’re free though,” said Riko. “And maybe I’ll help you figure out how to talk to Hanamaru about your feelings.”

“As am I,” responded Yoshiko. “I’m glad I’m not alone.”


	3. A Crush?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chika talks to Kanan about her crush

“So, what was it you wanted to talk about?” asked Kanan, watching as Chika climbed up the last step on the hill. She waited while Chika caught her breath. 

“Why did we have to meet up here!” exclaimed Chika, completely exhausted. Kanan smiled.

“Just because we don’t have official practice today doesn’t mean I’m not going to practice myself,” she said, giving Chika some of her water. Chika took a big gulp and sat down next to Kanan. 

“Okay, right,” said Chika, trying to collect all of her thoughts after a long trek up the stairs. “You said you’d be good with this. See, I’ve been thinking about Riko a lot, and can’t seem to get her out of my head. I didn’t think it was a big problem, but You seems to think I’m obsessing over her.” Kanan nodded as Chika spoke. 

“Obsessing, how?” she asked. 

“Well, I’ve been thinking about her a lot, and I’ve been really wanting to spend a lot of time with her, and I’ve been looking at her in class often,” listed off Chika. 

“Do you think she’s cute? Pretty? Huggable?” asked Kanan.

“Yeah!” said Chika cheerfully. She suddenly had a realization. “Oh Riko  _ would _ give really great hugs, wouldn’t she.”

“This might sound a bit out of the ordinary, but I think you have a crush on Riko.”

For once, Chika was glad she had just run since her cheeks were already red.

“A crush? On Riko? But we’re both girls…” Chika looked off into the distance. “Can that happen?”

“Well, think about it this way. If you or Riko were a boy, could you see yourself having a crush on her?” asked Kanan, trying to reason with Chika. Chika thought for a second. If she were a guy, she could date Riko! 

“Oh absolutely!” said Chika. “She’d be such an amazing girlfriend!”

“I think the fact that you made yourself a guy in your little daydream and kept Riko entirely the same says something,” said Kanan. Chika’s eyes went wide. Girls liking other girls? That could happen? Did  _ she _ like other girls? 

“Well, but doesn’t a crush mean you want to kiss the other person too?” asked Chika, trying to convince herself that she didn’t have a crush on Riko (even though she totally did). 

“Don’t you?”

“....yeah,” said Chika in a soft voice. “But don’t girls kiss each other sometimes? I saw you and Mari kissing-”

“And that is why You had you come talk to me about this,” said Kanan right before taking a sip of her water. “It might seem strange at first, but it’s really not. Some of us girls just happen to like girls.”

“I guess I never realized this because I didn’t know we could do that,” said Chika, looking down at her hands. She turned to face Kanan. “How did you find out that you liked girls?” Kanan smiled. 

“Well, I’ve known Mari for a very long time, and even when I was a small kid, I thought that someday I’d like to marry her. We used to play pretend being married to each other, and sometimes Dia, but it wasn’t until we got to be first years that Mari confessed to me. I couldn’t believe it at first; she felt the same way I did? That made my whole process a lot easier,” said Kanan. 

“Thank you for sharing that with me,” said Chika, loving every second of Kanan’s story. “I’m glad that I had someone like you to talk to.”

“No problem. I wish I had someone to talk to about all of this when I knew I liked girls too. I suppose Mari knew, but we didn’t tell each other we liked girls for a long time after,” said Kanan. 

“So what should I do about Riko? Should I tell her that I like her?” asked Chika, a bit too eagerly. 

“Slow down, you don’t even know if she likes girls too yet,” said Kanan. “If she doesn’t, she might think you’re weird for asking her out.” Chika frowned. Riko not liking girls? The thought hadn’t even crossed her mind in the whole scheme of things. She sighed. What was the point of figuring out that she liked girls if the girl she liked didn’t even like girls. Or what if she didn’t even like her back! This was all too frustrating. 

“So how do I figure out if she likes girls?” asked Chika. “Should I ask her?”

“Same thing, if she doesn’t like them then she might be put off,” said Kanan. “How about looking for some clues? Riko loves to read manga, maybe try to figure out what kinds she reads.”

“That’s a great idea! I’ll make sure to look out for anything!” exclaimed Chika. She leaned over to hug Kanan. “Oh thank you so much for taking this time to talk to me, thank you!” Kanan smiled and gave Chika a pat on the head. 


	4. The Letter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riko and Yoshiko try to write a letter to Chika

“Dear Chika-chan..No, that’s no good. Hi Chika-chan... No, not that either. Chika! Sure, why not,” said Riko as she struggled to write the beginning of her letter. “I want to inform you….I think you should know….I like you more than a friend….No….I want you to be my girlfriend….No, that seems too forwards-”

“Here, let me do it,” said Yoshiko, snatching the paper from Riko’s hands.

“You need to stop doing that,” muttered Riko under her breath. If Yoshiko heard her, she didn’t show it. Riko bit her lip as Yoshiko furiously wrote. She had come to the library early that morning to meet up with Yoshiko to make a plan for what to do next. She herself had suggested writing a letter, but everything she wrote seemed awkward and risky. Riko thought back to her middle school days where a boy could ask a girl out by writing “Do you like me? Circle Yes or No” on a piece of paper to get an easy answer. But alas, she and Chika were both girls, and this wasn’t middle school anymore. If she wanted to ask Chika out, assuming Chika also liked girls, she would have to do it a more elegant way. Within a minute, Yoshiko was done scribbling all over the page. 

“Dearest Chika-sama,” Riko read out loud, rolling her eyes at Yoshiko. “Although I consider myself to have an exorbitant amount of willpower, you have won over my heart with your charms. Nothing can prevent the connection we have from blossoming into something deeper, for it was fate itself that has tied out strings together…”

“And?” asked Yoshiko, her eyes growing wide with anticipation. Riko glared at her.

“I’m not reading that last part out loud,” she said, folding the letter in half.

“So are you going to give it to her?” asked Yoshiko. Riko looked at her with a puzzled expression.

“Of course not, it’s terrible!” exclaimed Riko. “First of all, it’s a bit contradictory, and second of all, if I thought asking her to be my girlfriend straight up was a bit pushy, this was a full blown shove!” Riko smirked at her last comparison but resumed her serious stance.

“Oh come on, it’s perfect! It completely conveys your true feelings!” Yoshiko retorted, crossing her arms and turning away from Riko. Suddenly, Riko had an idea.

“So would you give this to Hanamaru?” asked Riko, holding back a smile as best she could. “Why don’t I change the names right here and I’ll give it to her as soon as I see her-”

“No!” shouted Yoshiko. “My relationship to Hanamaru is...different. Our souls have not yet reached the path of compatibility-”

“I’m going to pretend I know what that means only to tell you that if you think this is too pushy for you and Hanamaru, then it’s also too pushy for me and Chika,” said Riko. She relaxed her shoulders and sighed. “But at least you tried. I couldn’t even get enough words down on the page for it to be a full letter. I guess if I knew for sure that she liked girls too, then I wouldn’t be so worried about rejection. Do you have any suggestions?”

“I have this ouija board-”

“Next.”

“I have this new cauldron-”

“No, something less to do with black magic.”

“How about we just ask her?”

“Ask her?” said Riko, flabbergasted. “Oh I could never do that!”

“Then I guess we’re at a standstill again,” said Yoshiko, deep in thought. She didn’t notice that Hanamaru had approached her. 

“Yoshiko-chan! You dropped your notebook, zura,” said Hanamaru, handing it over. 

“It’s Yohane!” said Yoshiko, suddenly realizing that Hanamaru was standing right before her. Without any time to think, Yoshiko took off running out of the library at full speed. 

“What just happened, zura?”

Riko smiled. At least she wasn’t full blown afraid of talking to Chika. She took a deep breath. She could make this work.

“I don’t know, why don’t you go find Yoshiko to talk about it,” said Riko. If she could help Yoshiko to ask out Hanamaru, perhaps she would have enough experience to figure out how to ask out Chika. It always is easier to deal with other people’s problems then her own. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chika goes to talk to Riko after practice but sees one of Riko's mangas.

“Riko-chan!” called out Chika, rushing over to her friend after practice. They had worked hard together on their latest dance moves, and had almost perfectly become in sync. But there was still a bit of work to be done. Unfortunately, the sun was starting to set so that meant practice was over for the day. “You did great today.”

“Thanks, you too,” said Riko, pausing to brush a strand of her hair behind her ear. She continued packing up her bag. Chika squinted, and noticed the corner of one of Riko’s mangas. She thought back to that conversation she had with Kanan earlier in the week. Riko did read a lot of manga….

“What’re you reading?” asked Chika, squatting down next to Riko. Riko’s eyes went wide as she tried to close the bag, but her jerky movements ended up spilling the contents of her bag out. “Oops, I’ll help you pick this up.” Chika grabbed a few pencils and Riko’s notebook before noticing Riko’s manga lying face up on the ground. It was opened to a page of two school girls, one pinning the other against a wall. Chika stared at it in shock. Riko looked at Chika, noticing what she was staring at, and shut the manga, stuffing all of her things back into her backpack and running off. 

“Riko-chan…” said Chika, watching Riko run away. Chika sat down on the bench with a puzzled expression. Should she go after Riko? No, that might be bad, especially if Riko didn’t want to talk to her right now.

“What just happened?” asked You, sitting down next to Chika. “Did you scare her off?” You said this in a joking manner but Chika wasn’t so sure of herself. 

“I hope not,” said Chika. 

“So, did you talk to Kanan?” asked You. Chika blushed a little.

“Yeah, I found out that…” Chika started. You looked at her, puzzled. 

“That what?”

“That I  _ like _ Riko.”

“I like Riko too.”

“No, I mean that I have a crush on her, that kind of like,” Chika said, blushing even more than before. 

“Oh, makes sense,” said You, piecing everything together. “I kind of suspected it from the way you talked about Riko, but I wanted you to talk to Kanan first to be sure. So is that why Riko ran away, did you ask her out?” Chika shook her head. 

“No, no, nothing like that,” she said. “Although I did see a page from one of her mangas, and I think she does like girls after all.” You’s face beamed with happiness.

“That’s great, Chika-chan! So, what are you going to do now?” asked You. Chika looked off into the distance. 

“I don’t know, what  _ should _ I do? I didn’t think I would get this far,” said Chika. You lightly nudged her on the shoulder. 

“That’s why you need to plan ahead,” said You. “How serious is this crush of yours? Do you want to date? Get married?”

“Stop it,” giggled Chika. “I’m not even an adult yet, we can’t get married. But yeah, I kind of want to be her girlfriend.”

“Only kind of?”

“Maybe a little bit.”

“Only a little bit?”

“Well, no. I do want to be her girlfriend but it’s a bit hard for me to say because all of this is so new to me,” admitted Chika.

“Understandable,” said You. “Well you should definitely try flirting.”

“Flirting? With Riko? How would I do that?” asked Chika. You thought for a moment. 

“Well, you need to compliment her. More than you normally would, so she gets the hint that you like her. But not too much or she might think it’s creepy,” said You.

“So how much is that?”

“I have no idea!” said You. “Trial and error?” Chika sighed. 

“I’ll think about it. Thanks for the help, You-chan.”

“No problem!”


	6. The Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riko and Yoshiko talk about coming out to their crushes

“Yoshiko-chan, I messed up!” cringed Riko as she plopped down on Yoshiko’s bed. She stared up at the ceiling, and then over at the curtains that blocked out any ray of sunlight that hoped to come through. Why did this have to happen to her? Between all of the possible ways she could have come out to Chika, having Chika discover it was one of the worst. 

“Did she reject you?” asked Yoshiko, sitting down next to Riko and ignoring the fact that Riko called her Yoshiko. “Did she take every last shimmer of hope you had and shred it into a million pieces?”

“It feels like it,” grumbled Riko. She sat up on the bed, and bit her lip. “Ah, I don’t even want to think about it anymore. It’s making my mind cringe.”

“I am sensing a disturbance.” Yoshiko waved her hand over Riko’s face. “You seem to be suffering from my bad luck.”

“Talk about luck!” 

“Well, what exactly  _ did _ happen,” asked Yoshiko. “I am curious, after all. Do we need to fight her?” Riko shook her head. 

“No, no, nothing like that. Well, it was sort of my fault, which makes it even more cringier,” said Riko, tapping the tips of her fingers together. 

“Did you confess your undying love for her?” asked Yoshiko.

“So you  _ do  _ admit that this would be a cringey thing to do!”

“Only if you do it wrong.”

“How is there  _ possibly  _ a right way at this stage in our ‘relationship’?” giggled Riko. She felt a bit better about what happened earlier, but her embarrassment was still there. “Well, basically Chika saw one of my yuri manga…”

“Oh sweet, do you have any recommendations?”

“You wanted to help me talk about my problems! Can we please resolve this so I can stop thinking about it!” whined Riko. Yoshiko smirked. 

“Fine. But you’re giving me a list later.”

“Anyways, I took off running before she could really get too much of a look at anything, but I’m so embarrassed now. I can’t remember which scenes she saw, or if there was even any action on any of the pages. But it’s not if I can ask her, because if on the off chance that she didn’t see the pages, she would then know that I read yuri.”

“This might not be a bad thing,” said Yoshiko, tapping her chin with a pen. “If she does know you like girls, then maybe you could openly flirt with her.” Riko sighed. 

“Yeah, but what if she’s homophobic?” asked Riko. “Or what if she’s straight but uncomfortable with the idea that I like her? I can’t just make moves on her.”

“I would formally come out to her, either way,” said Yoshiko. “That way, she might come out to you too. Honestly, this is probably for the better. Did you really expect to keep your sexuality a secret your whole life?”

“Yes.”

“Okay mood.”

“You’re not helping!” sighed Riko, exasperated. “But you have a point. I can’t really date girls, namely Chika, if I can’t even let them know I like girls. So I guess I have to officially come out to her.”

“Well, my work here is done!” beamed Yoshiko.

“...You didn’t do anything.”

Yoshiko scoffed. “I did too! You wouldn’t have ever decided to come out to her on your own. You would have died from cringe.”

“...That’s debatable.”

Yoshiko gave her a half smile. Riko smiled back. She felt like a heavy weight had been lifted off her chest. Just simply talking to Yoshiko about her crush issues was relieving. But while they were on the topic…

“So, how are you and Hanamaru?”

Yoshiko did a reflexive pose that looked as if she were some sort of exotic bird about to catch a fish out of the water. 

“I, well, she, uh talked to me again,” said Yoshiko, calming a bit down. “Oh, and she gave me a hug.”

“That’s sweet,” said Riko. “But are you thinking about telling her you like girls?” Yoshiko tensed up again.

“No, I haven’t checked her star sign or blood type or-”

Riko pieced it all together. 

“You’re nervous about it too! Just like me!” she exclaimed. “Okay, let’s make a promise: you’ll tell Hanamaru if I tell Chika.” Yoshiko bit her bottom lip and looked hesitantly around the room.

“Are you sure about this?” she said, almost shivering.

“This will either go amazingly well or terribly, and either way we’ll make some memories,” said Riko, holding out her hand. “Deal?” Yoshiko looked down at the hand. She clasped it. 

“Deal.”


	7. The Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riko finally comes out to Chika

“So, uh, Chika-chan, you’re probably wondering what happened yesterday,” said Riko nervously, rubbing the side of her arm with her other hand. “And, well, I thought I’d just go ahead and tell you the whole truth, because it would honestly just leave you more confused if I didn’t.” Riko took a deep breath, causing Chika to perk up. Riko’s eyes didn’t have the lively charm they once had.

“Oh yeah, right,” said Chika awkwardly. “Yeah.”

“Well, I guess I just need to get it all over with,” said Riko. “So, well, you saw the manga I read, right?”

“Y-yes,” stammered Chika. “Right, the manga.” Riko looked as if she was going to spontaneously implode. Chika could see her hands shaking as she tried to keep them still. Riko was so nervous, could this mean that she was about to confess her undying love?

“So, the reason I have  _ that kind _ of manga is because, well, I’m  _ that kind _ of girl,” said Riko. Chika stared at her. 

“And by that kind, I mean that I like girls…” said Riko softly. Chika’s eyes widened. Riko liked girls? This was great! Everything would be so easier now! “But, uh, sorry if this makes you uncomfortable, I didn’t want you to make any assumptions so I figured I had to tell you. I really hope this won’t impede on any of our dances in Aqours since you know.”

“No, no, it’s totally okay,” said Chika. She gave Riko a smile. “In fact, I was actually curious about that.” Riko’s expression turned from relieved that she finally came out to terrified. 

“Really? Was I obvious? Does anyone else know?” asked Riko, extremely paranoid. Chika gave her a half smile. 

“Er, uh, no, I just…” Chika found herself at a loss for words. Everything she wanted to say was on the tip of her tongue. It would have been so easy to just tell her that she liked her too. But the overwhelming feelings caused the swarm of butterflies in her stomach to silence her. 

“Okay…” said Riko, confused at Chika’s reaction. She gave Chika an awkward smile and then left the room. Chika looked down at the ground. Why was it so hard to talk to Riko about this? She could talk to You and Kanan fine about liking girls, what made Riko different? Especially since Riko also liked girls, this should have been really easy for her. 

Chika sat down at her desk and tapped her fingers together. Riko had only told her this because she saw the page in her manga. Could this mean that she was never planning on telling her? It would have been easy for Riko to mention that she was in love with Chika, or to ask her out. But she didn’t do either of those things. Perhaps she didn’t see Chika as anything more than just a friend. 

“Hey, Chika-chan, not to be eavesdroppy, but I just heard your conversation with Riko,” said You, sitting down next to Chika. “I of course didn’t hear everything, but I think I got the gist of it. So, are you two a couple now?” Chika bit her lip.

“No,” she said. “Well, the only thing I know about this is that she likes girls. She didn’t confess her love or anything like that. She also made it seem that if I hadn’t seen her manga then she wouldn’t have told me. So I don’t think she has a crush on me at all.”

“Well, maybe that’s because she doesn’t know that you also like girls,” said You. “Did you tell her?”

“No. Should I do that right now?”

“Oh, I don’t think that would be a good idea,” said You, leaning on the side of her chair. She then looked down at what she was drawing.

“Why not?” asked Chika. This was a good idea. If she could just tell Riko that she also liked girls, maybe she could also ask her out on a date! It was perfect!

“I don’t think there’s a good way how to bring up that you like girls just randomly,” said You. “Riko had a reason to come to talk to you. Also if you just go up and talk to her without a prompt, she’ll definitely think you’re hitting on her.”

“Isn’t that what I want, though?” asked Chika. 

“It might be too forward with your intentions,” said You. “Because she just admitted that she likes girls, so if you do it too, it will definitely seem like you want to date her. It would have worked a lot better if you came out to her in the same conversation.”

“I don’t get why I don’t want her to know that I like her,” said Chika, pouting. “She likes girls, so she obviously wouldn’t have a problem with me hitting on her.”

“No, it’s because what if she doesn’t have a crush on you?”

“What?”

“Just because she likes girls doesn’t mean she has to have a crush on you,” sighed You. She scribbled over her drawing and closed her notebook. 

“Oh, right,” said Chika. “So then what  _ do _ I do now? If I can’t just come out to her.”

“Maybe flirt with her?” suggested You.

“That’s the same thing!” exclaimed Chika. 

“Yeah, but it can help us gauge if she’s interested or not,” said You. Chika thought about this for a moment.

“I honestly don’t understand why I can’t just tell her I like girls, but I think you might be onto something. I can’t just confess if she doesn’t like me. Then she might not want to be my friend anymore,” said Chika. 

“I feel the same way,” said You. She and Chika exchanged a glance. 

“So, how  _ do _ I flirt with girls anyways?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey sorry for like not writing for 1 month + here's the 2nd chapter this week :)


	8. The Closet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riko tries to help Yoshiko come out to Hanamaru, and ends up in a sticky situation.

Riko took a deep breath and tried to appear calm, but really she was dying on the inside. What had she done? She had just confessed one of her biggest secrets, and to the girl she liked, nonetheless. She clutched her bag tightly, but then loosened her grip. The feeling of dread in her stomach started to lessen. That wasn’t so bad, was it? Chika didn’t seem to be  _ too _ awkward, but Chika could just be awkward in general. There had been something rather off about her reaction, though. But perhaps this was just her being embarrassed that Chika didn’t confess back to her. Perhaps her expectations were set too high. There really was no overlying evidence that Chika even liked girls. It was all just hope that this would all work out. If Chika really was like her, she would have come out too, right? That would have made things a lot easier. But she didn’t come out back to her. This had to mean she was straight, didn’t it?

Riko spotted a familiar face hiding behind a doorway. Whether or not she thought she was concealed, Riko couldn’t tell. It was very obvious that Yoshiko was trying to hide, though, at least part of her. 

“I told Chika,” said Riko, leaning on the wall next to Yoshiko. She crossed her arms. “It went alright, I think.” She didn’t want Yoshiko to know how nervous she was in the off chance that she would deter her from talking to Hanamaru. It was no use; Yoshiko was already chickening out. 

“Well, it looks like the stars of fate have aligned themself for you, yet mine are still-”

“Yoshiko, you promised,” said Riko in an almost whiney voice. Yoshiko pouted. 

“Yohane,” she said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “I’m waiting for the perfect time to make it super natural.” Riko narrowed her eyes. 

“Is that why you’re waiting on the inside of the doorway, squished behind the door?”

“This is so I can catch Hanamaru when she enters the classroom.”

“Yep, this looks totally natural.”

“Thanks-, hey, wait a minute.” Yoshiko gave Riko a dirty look. “That was rude.” Riko couldn’t help a little giggle. Yoshiko was often so unaware of her own bizarre behavior that it was impossible not to derive pleasure from any of it. 

“Sorry, I’m just trying to help you,” said Riko. She put her hand on Yoshiko’s shoulder. “Hey, you’ve got this. Just take a bunch of deep breaths and tell her what you’ve wanted to say for a while. The worst thing that can happen is-” Riko paused for a second because the worst thing would be Hanamaru quitting Aqours, and she didn’t want to put that pressure on Yoshiko. “Is not going to happen. I can feel good vibes,” said Riko, hoping this would speak to Yoshiko in some mystical way. Yoshiko took a deep breath and seemed to calm down a bit. 

“I shall call upon me the dark power to help influence-”

“Don’t do that.”

“My effectiveness in getting my point across,” finished Yoshiko. She looked over at Riko. “What, I never use my fallen angel powers  _ on _ any other people for personal gain. That’s not what fallen angels do.” Weather or not this is what they did, Riko didn’t know, or care. But if it made Yoshiko comfortable, then it was worth putting up with. Riko looked down the hall. 

“There she comes, she’s with Ruby, want me to distract her so you can talk?” asked Riko.

“I can do this. I can do this,” said Yoshiko, psyching herself up. But as soon as she made eye contact with Hanamaru, her calm composure died. “I can’t do this, I can’t do this.”

“Yoshiko-chan!” called out Hanamaru. “Why are you behind the door. You’re so silly, zura.”

“Zuramaru, I, uh, there’s something I, uh.” Yoshiko’s eye twitched a few times before she grabbed Riko by the forearm and took off running down the hall. 

“Where are we going!” yelled Riko. “And let go of me!” 

“No time to explain, we need to lose them,” called out Yoshiko, completely in a panic. “Hanamaru hates running, she’ll never follow us here.” Yoshiko practically dragged a noncompliant Riko up the stairs and into a storage closet. The two girls were completely out of breath and panting as they leaned against the walls. The closet was not very big, and only had a single light bulb as a light. 

“What was that!” exclaimed Riko. “You couldn’t even talk to her! You didn’t even get to the hard part!”

“The hard part  _ is _ the admitting,” pouted Yoshiko, crossing her arms. Riko facepalmed. 

“Okay, have you ever heard of the saying “You only need to be brave for one second”?” asked Riko. Yoshiko diverted her eye contact and didn’t look at her. 

“You make it sound so easy.”

“That’s because I just  _ did  _ it!”

Yoshiko was silent for a good minute before speaking again.

“Well, it went good for you. You’re just good at this kind of thing, and Chika probably likes you too so it’s not a big deal. I don’t know about Hanamaru at all. Sure, I know her, and she’s one of my best friends, but I couldn’t tell you if she likes girls or not!” exclaimed Yoshiko. Riko facepalmed again.

“Look, I’m not good at this kind of stuff. You didn’t watch me come out. I was so nervous, I didn’t know how Chika would react or anything. And for your information, she didn’t come out back to me so I still don’t know about her. But yeah, I was super nervous, but I realize now that I’m actually kind of glad I did it. All of that is over with,” said Riko. Yoshiko looked down at the ground. 

“You were nervous?” asked Yoshiko.

“Yeah. I just didn’t want to make you nervous because I was nervous,” said Riko. Yoshiko bit her lip.

“I think that made me more nervous because you were so calm about it,” admitted Yoshiko. “I assumed that because I was feeling jittery, this would go so much worse.” 

“So are you going to come out to Hanamaru?”

“I’ll do it some other time-”

“Will you though?”

“....I’ll try.”

“That’s not a definitive answer.”

“Look, it’s not that easy-” 

Suddenly, the bell rang. Riko shook her head and realized that she would be late to class if she didn’t get out of this closet. 

“Yoshiko, let’s get to class-”

“No! I’m staying in here forever. I can’t let Hanamaru see me.”

“But you literally didn’t say anything to her,” Riko deadpanned. Yoshiko blocked the exit. Riko rolled her eyes. Looks like she had no choice. Riko tried pushing past Yoshiko, and quickly grabbed the door handle. But she slipped, lightly touching the door but falling right onto Yoshiko. 

“Ow,” grunted Yoshiko as Riko started to lift herself off her. Suddenly, Riko’s eyes were blinded by the burning fluorescent light of the outside world as the door was opened. Not by her or Yoshiko, of course. 

“Sorry to interrupt,” said You awkwardly as she exchanged a glance with Chika. She quickly shut the door. 


	9. You’s Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You has a few words to say to Chika

“That was, interesting,” said You, catching up with Chika as they walked to lunch. “I was definitely not expecting that.” Chika was silent. You waved her hand in front of her face. 

“Chika? Hey, don’t take it personally,” said You, trying to snap Chika back into focus. Chika blinked twice and then forced a smile. Chika had been trying to piece everything together all morning. Every event, from the time she realized she had a crush on Riko, to seeing Riko on top of Yoshiko in the closet had to be connected, right? 

“No wonder she was so awkward about it,” said Chika. “She probably didn’t want me to think she liked me because she told me she liked girls.”

“Out of everyone in Aqours, I can kind of see her girlfriend being Yoshiko. I mean, the two of them are polar opposites, but they spend a lot of time together and Riko seems to secretly enjoy the fallen angel stuff,” said You. Chika flattened her lips. 

“Yeah,” she said. “I think I let my hopes get too high. Everything had been going according to plan so well up to this point. I never accounted for the fact that there would be other girls who like girls in our group. Or that we know who each other are.”

“Maybe it’s time to let Riko go, because she’s dating Yoshiko and you wouldn’t want to interfere with that, right?” asked You. Chika pouted. 

“I understand that it’s hard sometimes to tell the person you like that you’re into them. I really do,” said You. “It’s especially hard to see them liking someone else.”

“Yeah,” said Chika. “But-”

“It takes a lot of courage to confess to someone, so that shouldn’t be taken lightly, right?” suggested You.

“Yeah-”

“Chika-chan,” said You, her voice low. Her head was angled slightly down towards the ground so Chika couldn’t see her eyes very well. “I like you. Will you please go on a date with me?” Chika’s eyes fell. She rested her hand on You’s shoulder. 

“I’m sorry, but no,” she said, softly. “I mean, it wouldn’t be fair to you. I really like Riko, and I’m sure my feelings wouldn’t go away if I went on a date with you. And it’s not that I don’t like you, you’re my best friend and I care about you. That’s why I don’t want to see you hurt by this. As long as I still have feelings for Riko, I don’t think I should pursue another relationship.”

“Even if Riko and Yoshiko date all throughout high school?” asked You. Chika clenched her fists. 

“If they’re happy together for that long, my feelings will probably fade. I’m friends with both of them and I wouldn’t want to impede on their relationship,” said Chika. “But You-chan, I’m sorry this won’t work out, at least for right now.” You smiled. 

“It was worth a shot. I had a similar thought about coming on too strong when you revealed to me that you liked girls. I wondered if I should say the same. But I knew you liked Riko and I didn’t want to intrude,” said You. “That’s okay, I guess, I’ll be fine with that.” Chika tilted her head a bit before fully taking in the situation.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she offered. You looked up at her.

“Huh?”

“I mean, I just found out I like girls, like, do you want to talk about you side of the story?” asked Chika. You pressed her lips together before taking a deep breath.

“Yeah, I’d like that,” she said, folding her hands together. “So I’ve liked you for a while, but didn’t realize I did until our first year here. I didn’t really know what to do so I kind of just tried to ignore the feelings so they didn’t get in the way of our friendship. This still won’t get in the way, will it?”

“Not at all, we’ve been friends for so long that I don’t think something like this would be off putting,” said Chika. You smiled, but it quickly faded.

“And if, by chance, you and Riko  _ do _ get together, would you mind then?” asked You. Chika thought about this for a second.

“I mean, I don’t have any negative reaction at all right now to you liking me, so I assume I wouldn’t mind then. But I don’t want you to feel hurt by me dating someone else, if that makes sense,” said Chika. You nodded.

“Okay, yeah,” she said softly. Chika looked at her friend, who looked very nervous and vulnerable. She had just confessed to her, but didn’t get the reaction she had expected. It must have been hard for her. Chika scrunched up her face a bit. Poor You-chan, she thought. Then, she did something she should have done a while ago. She embraced You in a big hug, and squeezed tightly.

“Thanks for sharing all of this with me, I’m proud of you,” she said, giving You a little bit of slack. You’s cheeks blushed a deep red.

“Chika-chan…”

“I know how hard it is to tell your crush you like them, actually, I haven’t even gotten that far so it could even be way harder than I imagine,” she said, turning her head to face You directly. 

“Aw thanks,” said You, pulling out of the hug. She looked a bit more confident with herself. Chika smiled. She felt a whole lot better about everything now that You was feeling better too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhg i’ve been putting off writing this for a while bc I’m not used to writing multichapter fics xD (I guess I need this as practice haha) but I’ll try to get back with weekly (or maybe biweekly) updates soon :)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	10. Yet Again Another Letter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yoshiko writes a confession letter to Hanamaru and slips it into her bag. She then tries to talk to Chika about Riko to see what kind of reaction she'll get.

Yoshiko looked down at the letter, deeply inked with red. She ran her finger along the edge, scowling at every little change Riko had made. 

“Dear Hanamaru, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this for a while, and well, here it is. For a long time, I’ve had a crush on you, and was wondering, do you feel the same way? If so, I’d like to go on a date with you this weekend, I’m thinking the arcade but if you have other ideas that’s fine. If not, that’s okay too, we can still hang out then, but just as friends. Love, Yoshiko.”

Yoshiko set the letter down on her desk. It felt so….fake? Like all of the “oomph” had been taken out of it. There was nothing jarring, or eye catching, or even memorable about the letter. Yet it was so….normal? Normal was the word she was looking for? Perhaps Riko  _ did _ have a bit of reason to change everything, Hanamaru would like this better….right? 

Yoshiko bit her lip. No, this wouldn’t work. Well, at least she wouldn’t  _ want  _ it too, and frankly, it kind of bothered her that it  _ might _ . If Hanamaru were going to date Yoshiko, she would have to date the  _ real _ Yoshiko, not some easily presentable version. Yoshiko gripped her pen and pulled out a new sheet of paper. She began to write. 

“My dear friend, Over the past few years that I have had the absolute pleasure of knowing you, my dark energy has shown that I am drawn to you, not just as friend, but as soulmate. At first, I was shocked, petrified at the thought of us tieing our threads of fate together into one, yet as I considered it more, it began to take shape within my mind, and sort of made sense. Weather those threads are merely platonic, or romantic, I do sense that they are there, pulling us ever so closely together. We shall reconvene outside by the tallest tree after the clock strikes its final bell. - Yohane.” 

Yoshiko slipped the note into an envelope and held it to her chest. She took a deep breath in, and then a deep breath out. She looked back down at Riko’s letter, and a small smirk appeared on her face. Riko  _ had _ technically written the letter….perhaps she could change the names? Yoshiko grabbed the letter and quickly copied it down onto another piece of paper. She then stopped, looking down on it, and felt a twinge of guilt bubbling up inside her stomach. She couldn’t do this to Riko, could she? On the bright side, she could end up bringing Chika and Riko together, but on the opposite side, she could end up scaring Chika away, and worse, Riko would probably end their friendship. She slipped the letter into another envelope and stashed it in her bag, along with her original one. She should think about it some more. 

* * *

 

Perhaps she could give the letter to Chika after figuring out if Chika liked Riko back! That was it! Yoshiko’s flat lips twisted into a smirk. This wouldn’t be that hard, after all, they were both close friends with Riko. Could she generally just drop the notion of having a crush on Riko into casual conversation? Would that be weird? Probably. Yoshiko scratched her head, but her eyes perked up once she saw You and Chika exiting their class for lunch. 

“Hey, Chika-chan,” said Yoshiko, running up to walk next to her. She tried to wriggle in between You and Chika to break them up and make more room for her presence. “Do you mind if I sit with you? And You-chan, for lunch?” 

“No, we don’t mind,” said You, grabbing a seat at the table. Yoshiko sat down. She then looked down and twiddled her thumbs. Shoot, she thought, where should she even start? How would she even bring Riko up in a conversation? Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to  _ start _ with Riko….

“You know, I was thinking, and we have some really pretty girls on Aqours,” said Yoshiko, trying not to sound cocky. “I mean, just starting with you two, you’re already super pretty. The third years are absolutely gorgeous, and well, first years? Absolutely adorable.” You and Chika looked at each other some more. Yoshiko resisted the urge to facepalm. This felt wrong and so out of character, but if it was going to help her figure out if Chika liked Riko or not, then it was worth it. 

“Yes, I do suppose we’re really cute,” said You, blushing a little bit. “I feel like the fact that we’re idols in general helps amplify that. We all have our own unique characteristics that make us stand out in our own interesting ways.” Yoshiko silently thanked You for making this so much easier for herself. 

“My thoughts immediately go to Riko for that,” said Yoshiko, staring at Chika, her blinks stopping. “She’s so talented, especially with her piano. Just listening to her play makes me want to learn myself, that’s how good it is. And her hair? Absolutely stunning. Silky and red, it’s almost like a river of blood.” Wait, that sounds awful. Yoshiko grimaced as she realized she should never say that again. But she wasn’t the only one grimacing. Chika seemed to be gritting her teeth, and looking down at her food, refusing to eat a bite. You put her hand on Chika’s shoulder and gave her a pat. Yoshiko came to the realization that she needed to distract them from her awful simile. 

“Oh, and uh, her smile? Also stunning. Jaw dropping. It’s so contagious, we should get vaccinated for it-”

“Riko-chan’s been avoiding me,” blurted out Chika. She looked awkwardly over at You, and the two of them shared a glance. Yoshiko squinted. Hmmm? That’s odd, hadn’t Riko just come out to Chika? Why was she avoiding her? Was she embarrassed? Perhaps it wasn’t even that. 

“Oh? And why’s that?” asked Yoshiko, intrigued. Chika awkwardly rubbed her one arm with her other arm. 

“Well, you know, I guess she just kind of feels awkward around me, I suppose,” said Chika, not breaking eye contact with You. She then turned to look towards Yoshiko. “But I’m happy for you, I really am.” Yoshiko gave the two of them a confused look.

“We saw you earlier,” said You softly. Yoshiko tensed up. Had You seen her slip the note into Hanamaru’s bag? Had she realized what was going on? Yoshiko froze. Wait. Maybe this might be a good opportunity. 

“Uh, that’s a bit embarrassing, right,” said Yoshiko, feeling a blush spread on her cheeks. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to see that. I’m a bit nervous about the whole thing, do you think she might like me back?”

“Oh she definitely likes you back,” You delivered flatly. Yoshiko felt her heart beat in her chest faster, so loudly that she hoped the other two girls couldn’t hear it either. She touched her cheeks and smiled. 

“The heavens have aligned themselves to me today,” said Yoshiko, now unable to think about anything besides meeting Hanamaru outside after school. She would make sure to get there super early and wait, so she could see every single one of Hanamaru’s expressions as she walked over. After that moment, Yoshiko lost track of her original mission for this lunch time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you think someone would do that? Just go on the internet and tell lies?
> 
> Tbh i thought I was going to go back to weekly updates.......but at least i finally updated it x) The story has just started to pick up again, there's going to be more drama (albeit stemming from good intentions, but...) so hopefully it'll get even more fun soon. :)


	11. Wrong Address

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanamaru gets *A* letter.....

“OwO what’s this?” asked Ruby, poking the corner of a piece of paper that was sticking out of Hanamaru’s bag. Hanamaru looked over, and pulled it out.

“I’ve got mail!” she said, rotating the letter in her hands to see if there was any indication for who it was for. This was odd. Was someone trying to pass notes to her or something? Who?

“Can I read it too?” asked Ruby, her eyes glancing towards the white corner. Hanamaru nodded, and stuck her finger into the gap, tearing it open. She pulled the letter out. 

“Dear Chika, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this for a while, and well, here it is. For a long time, I’ve had a crush on you, and was wondering, do you feel the same way? If so, I’d like to go on a date with you this weekend, I’m thinking the arcade but if you have other ideas that’s fine. If not, that’s okay too, we can still hang out then, but just as friends. Love, Riko.” Hanamaru set down the letter. She looked over at Ruby, who’s pupils went small and her face went pale. The two of them exchanged eye contact, then looked down at the letter. This was not something they were supposed to see. At all. 

“I feel uncomfortable because we read that,” said Ruby, rubbing her arms. “It feels like an invasion of privacy.” Hanamaru bit her lip. She quickly folded the letter and put it into the envelope. 

“Me too. No wonder opening other people’s mail is illegal,” she said, putting the letter back in her bag. “Should we give it to Chika and pretend we never saw it?”

“I don’t know,” said Ruby, tapping her index fingers together in no sort of pattern. “Maybe we should deliver it back to Riko and see what she wants to do with it?”

“But if we do that, then wouldn’t Riko get embarrassed?” asked Hanamaru. She scrunched her eyebrows together. How would she feel about this kind of situation? While there were plenty of people at her school in her ‘if they asked, she’d be down’ group, there were only one or two of her close friends that she actively  _ wanted _ to ask her out, those two being Ruby or Yoshiko. It wasn’t that she was afraid of asking someone out herself, she just liked the idea of being asked. However, if she had to ask someone out, she’d be embarrassed if someone “discovered” her letter on accident. “If  _ I _ were to write a love letter to someone, and I delivered it to the wrong person by mistake, then I’d be mortified if they returned it to me. If we give it to Chika, then Riko would never know that she gave us the letter by mistake.”

“It’s a bit odd that we got the letter, though,” said Ruby, side eyeing Hanamaru’s bag. “Chika and Riko are in the same year, and this is a first year classroom. Could this have been their old first year class?” Hanamaru shook her head. 

“I thought Riko came here starting her second year,” she said, thinking back to a conversation they had all had about first year teachers. “Oh right, she definitely did.” Ruby pouted. 

“I just don’t get it,” she said.

“Maybe she wanted to give it to us because she was too embarrassed to deliver it to Chika herself?” asked Hanamaru. Riko could be shy that way sometimes, so perhaps that was her plan after all. Ruby sighed. Hanamaru could sense that Ruby wasn’t going to let up on her argument. 

“How about we secretly slip it back to Riko?” asked Ruby. “That way she wouldn’t be awkward around us specifically?”

“That could work, actually,” said Hanamaru. “We could pretend like we never saw it!” She gave Ruby a high five, but then she realized something. Riko might take this as a bad sign. 

“What if she decides not to ask Chika out because her letter didn’t work?” asked Hanamaru. Ruby bit her bottom lip and stared intently at the clock, which was ticking slower than ever. 

“Well, we  _ could _ help them get together, that is, if Chika likes her too….” Hanamaru trailed off. Ruby’s eyes perked up. 

“You mean, we’d be wingmen? Wingwomen? That sounds like so much fun!” exclaimed Ruby. “I was really nervous about this whole thing, but if they  _ do _ end up becoming a couple, then they’d tell us, right? And then it wouldn’t be as awkward!”

“So you’re in?”

“Of course! But how do we ask Chika if she likes Riko without making it weird?” Hanamaru slumped down in her chair. Besides Ruby since she already knew, if anyone else in Aqours asked her if she had a crush on any of the other girl members, she’d become flustered. She didn’t want to make it obvious that she liked them, not because she was uncomfortable with it or anything, she just didn’t want the other girls to gossip. If she approached Chika with that question, it might be coming off too strong. 

“What if we were messing around?” asked Ruby. “You know, we could pose a question about “if you had to date someone in Aqours, who would you pick” type question, give our answers to Chika, and see what she says?” Hanamaru gave her a thumbs up.

“That’s genius!” 

* * *

  


“Okay, you remember the plan, right?” asked Hanamaru, peering out from behind a corner while Chika talked to You in the hallway. Ruby, who was positioned so her head was right below Hanamaru’s, nodded. She smirked. This kinda felt like they were spies. 

“Hm, it doesn’t look like You is going to leave,” said Ruby. “Should we go anyways?”

“Well, we’re just messing around, so I don’t think it matters. She might help us play around, she’s pretty easygoing,” said Hanamaru. “Alright, let’s go, make sure you look natural.” Ruby held her hand out for a hand slap and received one. The two then walked out from behind the wall and pretended to randomly be bumping into You and Chika.

“But like, if you  _ had _ to pick,” said Hanamaru, nudging Ruby with elbow. Ruby’s face flushed red.

“M-me?” she squeaked. “B-but Hanamaru-chan!”

“I know there are a lot of options, but there  _ has _ to be someone,” said Hanamaru with a wink that was obvious enough for Ruby to understand but hopefully not obvious enough for You or Chika.

“Pick what?” asked Chika, whose curiosity had been piqued. Hanamaru and Ruby exchanged a glance.

“Ruby and I are just messing around, you know,” started Hanamaru before Ruby cut her off. 

“She asked me if I  _ had _ to pick someone Aqours to date, who would I pick?”

“Hmm,” said Chika, looking over at You who gave her a sympathetic smile. 

“I guess I’d pick Kanan,” said Ruby in a small voice. “She’s really cool.” Hanamaru nodded. 

“True, she is really cool. Sporty too. I guess if I  _ had _ to pick, I’d choose Yoshiko,” said Hanamaru. 

“Really?” asked You. “You two are so different.”

“I think that’d be more fun, though,” said Hanamaru, trying to play it off as if she had not considered the possibility of dating Yoshiko before. “How about you?”

“Hmmm, well, Chika-chan  _ is _ my best friend…” You gave Chika a playful pat on the shoulder, to which she smiled at. 

“Aw, thanks You-chan,” said Chika warmly. The three girls then turned to her. “Uhhh, I don’t know who I’d pick….”

“We need a new plan, she hasn’t been responding to the question,” Ruby gestured to Hanamaru, or at least that’s what Hanamaru got out of her insane gesturing. 

“So, Chika-chan, who do you think  _ Riko _ would pick,” said Hanamaru, trying to not be obvious. 

“Oh, Yoshiko for sure,” said Chika without a blink. Hanamaru took a step back. What?

“Huh?”

“Oh, haven’t you heard? The two of them are together,” said You casually. 

“Huh? I was sure Yoshiko was making jokes about being single forever this morning….” said Hanamaru under her breath. Now it was Chika and You’s turn to be surprised. 

“Wait, so they’re not dating?” asked You. “But I saw them together, busy, in the maintenance closet….”

“Oh, Yoshiko goes there to panic sometimes,” said Ruby. “She must have dragged Riko in there with her.” You and Chika exchanged a worried glance, before softening it to one of….relief?

“I guess if I  _ had _ to pick a person, you know, if you were  _ forcing  _ me, I would pick Riko,” said Chika, a smile on her face before her and You left the two first years in the hallway. “I suppose.”

“I think I found out why they’ve been avoiding each other,” said Ruby. Hanamaru agreed. 

“Let’s find Riko and give her the letter, we can probably get her to ask out Chika to clear up this whole mess,” said Hanamaru. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this mini arc letter arc is almost over, I'm probably going to have some ChikaRiko alone time in like the 14th chapter or so....but this mess needs to get sorted out a little bit before that can happen.


	12. Puzzle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riko clears out some of the mess

Truth be told, Riko didn’t really know how to approach Chika after she had come out to her. Now that Chika knew she was into girls, it should have been a matter of time before she also came out back, assuming that she liked her too. But Riko couldn't think about this for too long after noticing a peculiar sight right outside the school.

Yoshiko had been standing out there, and not just standing outside like a normal person would (assuming there could be anything normal about the fallen angel herself). It looked more or less like she was waiting for someone. As no one approached her, Riko took it upon herself to go figure out why Yoshiko was standing there, creepily peering towards the school every few minutes to check that no one was coming.

“What are you doing?” asked Riko, getting straight to the point.

“I took your advice and decided to write Hanamaru a letter, and now I’m waiting for her under the tree like I told her I would,” said Yoshiko.

“I don’t think she’s coming.”

“Not…..coming….” Yoshiko’s face blushed bright red. “Wh-what do you mean? I wrote her a letter and….” It was that moment that Yoshiko snapped. Riko could see it from the way she lost control of her cool posture and resorted to hunching over slightly in a defensive position. The poor girl had probably stressed herself out over delivering the letter anyways and was now freaking out about the possibility that Hanamaru simply didn’t return her feelings.

“Ihavetogodosomefallenangelstuffgottagobye!”

And with that Yoshiko took off running. Or she would have, had Riko not grabbed her arm. 

“Hey, wait right here, I’m going to go find Hanamaru and ask her why she didn’t show up. Maybe she’s just feeling shy, okay? Don’t lose hope.” 

Yoshiko nodded and Riko ran back inside. If there was one place Hanamaru frequented often, it was the library. She was known for reading almost every book they had there. Riko sometimes wondered if she had read their yuri manga selection, but it wasn’t like she was going to waltz right up there and ask her.

Sure enough, Riko found Hanamaru in the library. She quickly strode up to the table where she was sitting and sat down across from her.

“Hey, Hanamaru-chan, oh wow this is awkward.” Riko couldn’t finish her sentence. Hanamaru put down her book.

“Hmm?”

“Sorry, let me try again. So, uh, Yoshiko wrote you a letter earlier and she’s been standing outside near the tree by the front waiting for you to show up, I think it would be a good idea to meet her out there so she doesn’t stress about it,” said Riko. Hanamaru looked at her with a confused look. “I get it if you’re shy, but I really think she needs an answer.”

“To what?”

“What do you mean to what…..Wait, did you get a letter?”

Hanamaru’s face went pale.

“Ummm.”

“So did you or did you not?”

“I got  _ a _ letter…..”

“Alright and…?” Riko felt as if she was trying to put pieces of two different puzzles together. They fit, but they didn’t look right. Meanwhile, Hanamaru looked as if she were about to start sweating bullets.

“Okay fine! I have it. I don’t know why or how I got it, but here it is,” Hanamaru said while presenting Riko a letter. “I didn’t mean to read it but it didn't have an address on the outside and I’m really sorry.”

“Sorry for…” Riko unfolded the letter and gasped. Did her eyes deceive her? “I need to have a little ‘talk’ with Yoshiko.”

“Wait, why?”

“I didn’t write this, well, I did, but it was a template letter for Yoshiko for...Uh, and she changed the names so it was for Chika and-“ Riko suddenly realized something. Yoshiko said she had written a letter, Hanamaru had gotten a letter, and that just meant that she had probably goofed up and given the wrong letter!

“Riko, do you like Chika?” asked Hanamaru. “I’d normally assume so, but since Yoshiko wrote the letter…”

“I do, I mean, I really like her but recently I’ve been feeling really distant from her and I don’t know why. I don’t want to think it’s because I came out to her, but I can’t think of any other reason.”

“She thinks you’re dating Yoshiko-chan.”

“Wait, what?”

“She misinterpreted your little shenanigans with Yoshiko in the storage closet as you two secretly making out or something. I think that’s why she’s been distant.”

Riko’s face went pale. Wait, so if Chika’s distance from her was because of that, then there was still a chance that she liked her! And that she was distant because she thought she and Yoshiko were dating! It all made perfect sense! She just had to tell Chika and clear it up, and then hopefully they could get back to normal again, or even better than normal.

“Hanamaru….thanks for your help. But can you please meet Yoshiko-chan outside so she can have a little bit of fun before I scold her for writing this letter?” joked Riko. Hanamaru blushed and looked outside to where Yoshiko was standing, her hair blowing in the wind.

“Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might as well do something productive with a sleepless night :(
> 
> On a happy note, hope everyone enjoys things starting to work out!


	13. Will You Be My Soulmate?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanamaru meets Yoshiko outside the school

Yoshiko was a very strange girl. Hanamaru could attest to that. There was no hiding it, with the fallen angel persona, and her mannerisms, Yoshiko was very far from normal. To other people, this was a put off. Yoshiko was “weird” and “should be avoided”, but to Hanamaru, it was more or less charming. She had read many books about characters from fantasy lands who had powers normal people could only dream of. She liked the books; they allowed her to live out fantasy lands that would forever be inaccessible to her. 

To Hanamaru, Yoshiko was the closest thing to a fantasy character as she could get, with her roleplaying and mysterious personality. Hanamaru knew that behind her façade, Yoshiko was just like any other girl, yet her persona made her all the more interesting. The way she put effort into changing her speech patterns, or the rituals she tried to perform, or how knowledgeable she sounded when she was talking about her fallen angel things. 

She seemed so set on her place in the world, that Hanamaru hadn’t even considered the possibility that Yoshiko could have feelings for her. Why would she? She wasn’t eldritch, or mysterious, or anything? She was a plain girl who loved reading and being in a school idol group. 

Yoshiko leaned against the tree in defeat before Hanamaru poked her in the shoulder. 

“Yoshiko-chan? Riko-chan told me to meet you out here,” said Hanamaru, folding her hands behind her back and leaning over to meet Yoshiko eye to eye. Yoshiko wiped her eyes and promptly stood up. Hanamaru noticed how she didn’t correct her name to Yohane. 

“One of my little demons told you to meet me here,” she said, stroking her chin. “Which meant that by some cruel trick of fate, the letter never reached you!” Yoshiko’s face went paler than it already was as she grabbed her bag and started digging through it. She pulled out a letter, and promptly opened it. 

“No, no, no,” she said as she read it. “If this is here, then….” Hanamaru looked at her, a bit confused. Had Riko said something about a letter? Probably. Should she tell Yoshiko that she gave the letter back to Riko? Probably. 

“You accidentally gave me Riko-chan’s letter,” she said out of the blue. “But don’t worry, Ruby-chan and I returned it to Riko-chan.” Yoshiko breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Thanks to my superior luck as a fallen angel, the stars have aligned once again as to not make a mess of things,” she said, doing one of her cryptic hand motions. Hanamaru smiled. 

“But why did you want to meet me out here?” asked Hanamaru. Yoshiko froze. She took a deep breath, then awkwardly fluffed her bun a little bit. 

“Sometimes, a fallen angel is a solitary creature of darkness who focuses all of her time on perfecting the dark arts as to grow ever powerful,” said Yoshiko. Hanamaru nodded her head. Of course, it was probably a new piece of lore that Yoshiko was going to be telling her. “But sometimes, the planets and the stars align in such a way as to prompt the inclusion of a, ‘companion’, of sorts.” She said this a bit softer and more awkwardly. Hanamaru put her hands to her mouth in utter shock. Over the years of knowing Yoshiko, she had gotten rather good at interpreting her fallen angel speak. Was Yoshiko suggesting….?

“Hanamaru-chan, will you be my soulmate?” asked Yoshiko, holding out her hand. Hanamaru could see that her entire face was blushing red. She must have practiced this or rehearsed it a bunch of times, either that, or she was doing a really good job of keeping composure here. 

“Will I?” asked Hanamaru chan, feeling the way those words sounded on her tongue. Soulmates were supposed to be chosen by some higher being, not by the people themselves. Unless that’s what Yoshiko wanted, for them to forget the stars and the cosmics and to just live in the moment for right now, and decide to become girlfriends. “Of course I will!” Yoshiko’s eyes seemingly bugged out of her head as she gripped Hanamaru’s hand tighter, yet not too tight. 

“Oh I was worrying myself about this for so long, not because I thought you were going to say no, or anything, but because I couldn’t find the perfect words to express myself,” said Yoshiko, bouncing with joy. “I’m so glad this is going to happen.”

“Me too,” said Hanamaru, rubbing her thumb against the back of Yoshiko’s hand. “To be honest, I didn’t think you were going to ask.”

“ _ I _ didn’t think I was going to ask,” scoffed Yoshiko. “Oh wow, can I tell Riko-chan about this? She was rooting me on the whole time and giving me advice that didn’t work but worked at the same time? I can’t believe that I asked you out before she asked- I mean I want to tell her and-”

“I know she has a crush on Chika,” said Hanamaru as Yoshiko kept rambling. “Speaking of that, I need to send a quick message to clear something up.” She pulled out her phone and opened Chika’s contact. 

“I’ve got some interesting information! I talked to Riko earlier today, and apparently she and Yoshiko aren’t dating, and never were! (mostly because Yoshiko and I are dating, zura!) Also, Riko has the biggest crush on you….” Hanamaru paused her message and looked at the contact. This felt a bit wrong to just straight up tell Chika that Riko liked her. She copied her message and opened another contact instead, this time, to You. She changed the pronouns a little bit, then hit send. 

“Would you be interested in learning about some of the magic I can perform?” asked Yoshiko, which Hanamaru interpreted as her inviting her over after school. 

“Of course, let’s go!” she said before holding hands with Yoshiko as they walked out of the school grounds. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really liked writing this chapter :3


End file.
